The Empty Lake
by Braden Oswald
Summary: An lake completely dried up overnight. Ghost lights in the sky. Buildings set on fire in the dead of night. All after a man is killed by a meteor. The Doctor is about to be in for his wildest ghost story of his life.
1. Chapter 1

"HURRY UP PONDS!" shouted the Doctor up the TARDIS staircase, "I WANT TO TAKE A DIP!" The Doctor, clad in a full body wetsuit and scuba gear, was waiting eagerly by the TARDIS doors as Amy and Rory walked down the staircase, Rory in a polo and brown swim trunks, Amy in a red two-piece. "Whatever happened to just swimming in the TARDIS swimming pool?" questioned Rory, who was woken by the Doctor about an hour before with a bullhorn. "Because," explained the Doctor, "We are going lake swimming! Full of fishies without fingers, I could add some with fingers, but that would ruin the entire ecosystem and probably cause a widespread amount of decay to the environment, with the whole country without life within the next century. So no, fishies with fingers, bad idea."

"Where are we swimming anyways?" asked Amy.

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors. "MINNESOTA! Land of a trillion lakes! At least that's what it will be called in a few centuries. For now it is just 1979." The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS to immediately be stopped a few feet later. The lake was completely empty; there was no moisture in it, with dead fishes situated about the massive ditch where a lake should have been. It was a surprisingly massive lake; at least, it would have been if there was water.

"Doctor?" asked Amy.

"Yes?" said the Doctor

"There is no lake."

"Well there was when I checked last night." The Doctor sonic-ed around, not sure exactly what he was looking for, but just hoping something would turn up.

"Doctor, what exactly are you looking for?" asked Rory, waiting patiently by the TARDIS doors.

"Not sure," explained the Doctor, putting away his sonic screwdriver, "just hoping something will turn up. Ponds, get back into normal clothes. There is a town about a mile away. Lovely fishing center, used to go there a few centuries back all the time. Don't really know why anymore, I don't really like fishing." About an hour later they were in normal clothes and walking through the town. It was a small, suburban town, typical of the seventies.

"I feel like I'm in 'The Sandlot'," admitted Rory. "Mind if I stop by a fishing store? I need to grab my dad a present and he would love some of this stuff."

"Not a chance, Rory. We all need to stick together." The Doctor made sure to grab his companions hands before crossing the street, which Rory felt was a little unnecessary.

"Don't you think you're a little too concerned about a dried up lake, Doctor?" inquired Rory.

"I think I'm a little too concerned about how this fits in with everything else," he responded, opening the doors to a local bar.

"What do you mean everything- hey, wait up!" Amy shouted as Rory and the Doctor walked away from her as she was distracted by some local music.

The trio walked into a bar. It was an average little bar, only two or three people in it. The bartender was a particularly round young man with no hair and a vest. The bar was surprisingly well lit for a bar, and had posters of bands like Wings and movies like Star Wars and Jaws.

The bartender looked up. "Welcome to the Coop," he said dully. He didn't ask for what drink they wanted. He wasn't exactly the friendliest of fellows, but he didn't seem threatening, just antisocial.

"Marty! It's me! The Doctor! Remember! Doctor! Caught the largest bass you've ever seen!" Marty the bartender just looked at him. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Order your drink or scram."

The Doctor look slightly befuddled. "Are you by any chance Marty Abrams III, are you?"

"I'm Marty IV, now hurry up and order before I call Doug to kick you out."

The Doctor looked even more confused. "I remember you as a baby. You were such a nice baby, the nicest baby I ever-" he was going to go on but Amy grabbed his shoulder as a way of saying "you should probably stop talking" as Marty the bartender started to display some confusion on his face. Marty finally stated one last time, "You have five seconds before I wake Doug up. Five-"

"Alright alright!" the Doctor insterted. "I'll just have water, these two probably want some scotch"

Amy added, "Actually, I wanted some water too-"

She was interrupted by the sound of a bottle of scotch quickly being slid in front of her very quickly. "Wow that was fast. And unneeded." She slid her scotch over to Rory, who wasn't keen to be drinking either. Rory just tossed both drinks into the plant next to him and paid Marty, who was confused by the British money but honestly didn't care enough to say anything.

"So, little Marty, tell me about the dried up lake."

Marty scoffed. "I don't care too much about the lake. Brings too many fishers and tourists, like you lot. I only like serving residents, but you lot pay anyways."

An old man in a plaid button up shirt and a fishing vest walked up to the Doctor. "Are you investigating the ghost of No-Luck Nelson, too?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered as a lie. "That is it exactly. Ghost hunting. Us three. They call us the hunters of ghost. We have club called Mystery Incorporated. Or is that Scooby Doo? Anyways, tell us more about this ghost."

The old fisherman sat down. "Well, Nelson was a local here, troubled kid all his life, got into alcohol as a teenager in order to get over some of the stuff he was having trouble with. He eventually became a bum in the town, an alcoholic, living in his dead folks place and making a living off of catching bait. Anyway, one night he was drinking by the lake during a meteor shower. He was enjoying the view, and apparently, one of the little meteorites got off course. We're not sure exactly what happened, but we know the area around the lake was scorched and Nelson was never seen again. Pretty soon pretty strange stuff started happening. Ghost lights had started appearing every few nights or so. Then a week ago, his ghost started attacking people. Set a building on fire. No one saw who did it, but there was a trail of fire on the ground leading back to the lake. And then last night, the lake just dried up. Nobody knows how. We all just show up this morning and it's empty. The only explanation is No-Luck Nelson. So a couple of us are going out tonight and searching the empty lake."

"Well," the Doctor added, "You can count us in. Mystery Incorporated and the town of Vide, Minnesota. Sounds perfect!"

Amy pulled the Doctor aside. "This was never about going for a dip, was it?"

"Not even for a moment." He replied. They smiled at each other for a moment and started laughing. "A ghost," Amy said. "We are out looking for a ghost."

"Well," the Doctor interjected, "It probably isn't a ghost. Meteor shower arriving at the same as all the unusual activity, more likely an alien or something. Shouldn't be too difficult. Simple, boring stuff. You know, the usual." The Doctor tried to sound tough while saying this, as if it was a normal thing, but he couldn't deny he was a little excited for this. He always liked a good ghost story.

In ten hours, half the town will be dead.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright, Ponds," said the Doctor as he zoomed into the TARDIS. "The hunt begins in about eight hours, but I think we should get a little sneak peak beforehand, what do you say?"

"I don't know," said Rory, "I really don't know how I feel about finding a lake draining, fire starting, lights in the sky ghost without backup."

"Rory, don't be stupid, it's not like we're going in without each other. And plus, the townsfolk who plan on hunting the ghost tonight would probably bring guns and try to shoot the 'ghost' to death. And how many times do I have to say IT'S NOT A GHOST!"

Rory, still unconvinced about the uncertainty of all this, remembered to put a first aid kit and flashlight, along with a few snacks, in his backpack before leaving with Amy and the Doctor down to the bottom of the water-less lake.

It was completely, utterly, dry. The ground was not moist. There was some algae and moss and green things that the Doctor liked to give funny names to every here and there. Of course, there was a good amount of dead fish, and it did not smell pretty.

"Doctor," Amy asked, "Why do you need seem remotely repulsed by this smell?"

"Trust me Amy, I've smelled worse that this," he answered as he trotted down deeper into the massive ditch. "You should smell the Vinvocci Carnival of Rola-Pars, they put on a good show, but they do not know how to clean after their animals. I swear, my shoe smelt like space-frog dung for a week."

"Space-frogs? There are such thing as space frogs?" returned Rory.

"Trust me, Earth isn't all that original with it's choice of inhabitants. On other planets there are millions of species extremely similar to the ones right on Earth. Yeah, plenty of space-frogs, except they are about 20 meters high, and they have scales, smell like their own dung, and were called Bushloogoos."

Rory wasn't curious enough to ask more, as long as he never had to meet space-frog, which he sadly knew was not a guarantee.

After about an hour of plodding around the empty lake, the Doctor called Rory and Amy together. "Alright, gang, we've searched for a while, what have we found?"

"Well," started Amy, "Nothing. Literally nothing. Dead fish to the left. Dead fish to the right. Lake plants not in a lake. And we are in a massive ditch that used to be a lake."

"Yes, all true, except not at all. Look around us. Something took up all the moisture here, and left behind all these creatures. Now, tell me, if you were going to empty out a lake, wouldn't you want to take the fish out too?"

"Well, yeah, if you don't want the stench," replied Amy, "But I don't see how that's important."

"Look around Amy, the ground is dry. Whoever took the water was thorough, yet they left the fish. Why would they leave the fish?"

"Maybe it was an accident," replied Rory.

"No, I think whatever took the water did take all the fish. I think someone else put all these fish here after the lake was dried out."

"You're trying to tell me," inquired Amy, "That someone put hundreds if not maybe thousands of fish in a dried up lake. Why would anyone do that?"

"Not sure," the Doctor mumbled as he picked up a fish. "This fish doesn't feel right..." The Doctor put his hand inside of the fish and suddenly got wide-eyed. "Guys, I know why someone put the fish here."

"Why?" asked Amy, finally relieved to be able to hear an answer.

"To keep out whatever took all the water. Someone who obviously was fast and had access to lots of dead fish and lots..." The Doctor ripped open the fish to reveal a Cybermat, "of these. As protection."

At that moment, all the dead fish began to squirm and cybermats began to crawl out.

"Mystery Incorporated, now is the time to not split up and run!" shouted the Doctor

The gang tried to run back to the TARDIS, away from the cybermats, but there were so many hills that they could not climb back up.

Suddenly they were surrounded by Cybermats in a corner. "Hold up," realized the Doctor, "We're not dead, why are we not dead. These things are not being controlled by Cybermen, they would have shown up already." The Doctor walked up to a Cybermat, and Amy was about to walk up to him and stop him but Rory held her back. "Listen, whoever you are, please, we are not here to hurt you," said the Doctor to the Cybermat. "We are only here to help you. You are showing restraint. A Cyberman would command the Cybermats to temporarily paralyze or kill us. You are unsure about what you want to do here. You are contemplating meeting us, but maybe you're afraid we will hurt you, so you're also contemplating killing us. Believe me when I say I am the Doctor, and a Doctor never means harm."

After about five seconds, the Cybermats all went dead. About twenty yards in front of them, a small chasm began to open, which was previously hidden by dirt. It seemed to be like a door that moved up and down, like a vertical sliding door, except made of metal, and it was on it's side and facing upwards. "Cyberman ship," explained the Doctor. "Must be the thing that crashed here two months ago. I'd say it wasn't safe, but well, when has that ever stopped me."

The Doctor took an extra flashlight from Rory's backpack and dropped it down, and it immediately switched gravity in order to go on the intended floor. "Well," he said in remorse, "It ruins the effect of what I wanted to say, but I'll say it anyways." The Doctor walked to the edge and jumped in to immediately hit a gravity-switcharoo and land on what was originally the floor. "Geroni-OOF!"

Amy looked down at him. "Smoooooooth."


	3. Chapter 3

As the three got adjusted to the shift in gravity, they began to take in their surroundings. They were in a long, open room, as probably as big as half the ship itself. There were multiple open hallways on many floors, all very visible, all with broken Cyberman space pods. Many of the hallways were collapsed, and there was only one route that the three had the option of taking.

"How do we know one of these pods doesn't contain a living Cyberman in them?" questioned Rory, heavily concerned and not desiring having to run away from Cyber-anythings again.

"If there were, they would have shown themselves the moment they crashed," explained the Doctor, "They aren't really big on the whole idea of 'stealth', nor should they have a reason to hide. Just one of them could have transformed this whole state by now if he wanted. They all must have died on impact, or else we would be currently dealing with a whole different mess..."

They finally got to the other end of the corridor in the massive cyber-containment room. As they went in to the room at the end, it looked to be a cyber-planners chamber. It had a desk, all Cyberman sized, as if it was a war council room for Cybermen. There was just one difference; there was a man there. Just standing there on top of the desk, staring down at them. He was wearing a flannel and jeans, and his face was partially covered by a Cyberman helmet. It seemed as if he actually had to rip out most of the helmet, because what parts of his face you could see were scarred and still slightly bloody. He still had other cyber-parts, like his right arm, also attempted to be ripped off but obviously mostly failed.

"Welcome," he stated plainly. "Please state your current intentions and reasons for investigating this ship." He had no emotion on his face. The Doctor wondered if this is what all Cybermen looked like under their helmets.

"I noticed some strange happenings in this point in space," answered the Doctor, "Buildings combusting, ghost lights, and now a lake drying up, all after a meteor shower, thought I might check it out..." The Doctor was too distracted by how this man was only partially Cyberman. "You are a half Cyberman. Only half Cyberman! That is literally impossible!"

"The evidence would make one presume you are wrong," continued the half Cyberman. "My name is Nelson Lake. I was on the shore of this lake two months ago consuming alcohol. A cyberman ship crash landed into the lake. I was nearly drowned to death by the waves it created. Only one Cyberman survived the crash. He found me and attempted to convert me. He managed to partially clad me in Cyberman armor and mostly suppress my emotions before finally shutting off after all of it's damage. I never received any directive to assimilate. My only goal is to remain alive. Do you have any more questions?"

"Well yes, actually," replied the Doctor, "more than I started out with. What do the ghost lights and fires and dried up lakes have to do with you? And how did you manage to make all of those Cybermats function?"

Nelson only took a fraction of a second to respond. "The lights are the result of Cyberman ships looking for the crashed ship. They would not begin an invasion without knowing why their original ship had not started the invasion. The dried up lake is the result of Cybermen finding the location of the crashed ship where I now reside. I had already prepared perfectly intact Cybermats in order to protect myself in case of emergency. Cybermen have never thought that their technology could be used against themselves. The Cybermats were able to release an electric charge that are easily able to take down Cybermen. I disposed of the bodies in this ship, and for protection, I took fish that I had already captured for sustenance and put Cybermats in them, and then laid them out throughout the empty lake-bed in order to act as security cameras as extra precautions."

"And the building burning, was that you, too?" asked the Doctor

Nelson was silent for a second. "It was a moment of weakness. I had found my journal in my personal belongings. I began to read it. It seemed like most of my life involved depression, and I found no desire to feel that. But there was one thing in there that had made me reconsider. There was one entry, where recently my singing career had apparently been about to take off. I participated in karaoke night one night and there was a Hollywood talent agent there. He was willing to take me to his music studio and make me a musical sensation. I read that I experienced great amounts of joy. I was curious to what this felt like. I knew that my emotions had only been suppressed, not fully deleted, so I spent hours trying to recall them, meditating silently. Unfortunately, I was not fully able, and I could only manage to temporarily feel the weakest of emotions: fear. That moment of emotional weakness made me afraid that the citizens would find me and kill me. I went out to destroy them before they could destroy me. I had only managed to do minimal damage to the town before my irrational fear left me and I returned to my shit, with my right foot on fire. I immediately replaced it." Only then had the Doctor noticed Nelson's right foot was also a cyber-foot. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Well," responded the Doctor, still heavily unsure of how this was possible, "No, you pretty much just answered it all."

"Good," responded Nelson, "Now leave before you are deleted. I have no desire for any relations with others anymore."

The Doctor had an idea though. "I thought you wanted to feel again? You said you wanted to feel again! Tell me you want to feel again!"

"I have no desire," responded Nelson, "The time when I did want emotions was a moment of weakness. I now am empty of all emotions and have no desire to return to them. They seem to be a burden on people more than they are a benefit."

"You see, that's where you're wrong, Nelson," replied the Doctor, "You see, I know where you're coming from. There were times, dark times, when I was younger, that I wanted to stop feeling. Where the pain was just too great. But it can get better. It can get better if you can just keep feeling and waiting for the good part of the story, the next chapter where things just get better."

"This way is simpler," stated Nelson, "Less risk of any pain."

"And absolutely no chance of happiness. Look at you, you're empty, and it is possible to bring you back, you know it is, you almost did, but of course you blew up a building but that's life sometimes, well hopefully never, but it is sometimes. The point is I have an idea of how to fix you, please just let me!"

"I have no desire," stated Nelson again.

"Ok, then think about this," rebutted the Doctor, "Your main objective is to survive, right? You think you can hold off the Cybermen forever? They will find you and will kill you, consider you an abomination. After they kill you, they will assimilate the entire planet. What if I told you I told you I could get rid of the Cybermen, but the only way I could do that is if you let me help you."

"You are lying," replied Nelson, "You would net let this planet fall to the Cybermen just for one man."

"Of course I would!" The Doctor lied, "How would you know, people's ideas and wishes are too complex for you! Believe me when I say that I will only stop the Cybermen if you let me help you."

Nelson took a moment to ponder the Doctor's bluff. "I believe you," he declared, "What is your plan?"

Amy watched as the Doctor grinned. _Rule #1, _she thought, _The Doctor lies. _She couldn't understand why the Doctor felt obligated to fix Nelson. Nelson was perfectly harmless, only wished to live a life of solitude. The Doctor could just blow up all the Cybermen and be done here, leave Nelson be. The Doctor knew something she didn't, she knew that. And she knew, when the Doctor didn't share information, it was for a good reason. But that didn't stop her from helping the Doctor, it never did. But she had no idea what was really going on in his mind. Not one clue.


	4. Chapter 4

Amy paced the floor of the wrecked and abandoned Cyberman ship's war room, while Rory just sat down, slightly worried and Nelson the half Cyberman standing on the table, looking down on the both of them.

"I don't like this, I don't like this at all," announced Amy.

"We don't have much choice in this do we, the Doctor has just taken off," responded Rory.

"I have done the calculations, and there is a 63% chance the Doctor's plan will work," stated Nelson, "Provided that the Cybermen are unable to upgrade in time to prevent it. If they do upgrade while he is there, there is only a 27% chance his plan will work. Any malfunctions from my part of the plan added to that, only 2% chance that the Doctor's plan will work, and no chance of his survival."

"You're not helping!" Amy told the Cyberman in calm frustration. Amy felt bad for thinking of him as just a Cyberman, since he was technically more human than any other Cyberman. But he was just so cold and calculative, he talked exactly like a Cyberman, albeit less homicidal. His appearance was much different from a Cyberman, though. He only had half of a Cyberman's head, the other half apparently scratched or torn off. His right arm was a Cyberman arm, and his left foot a Cyberman foot. His face that could show had scratches on it, presumably a result of the process of tearing off the helmet.

"Why do you have only half of a Cyberman head, anyways?" asked Amy.

"It is a result of me trying to feel emotion," replied Nelson. "The only suppressed emotion I could call on was fear, which made me desire to take off this helmet. I believe that I was afraid of the helmet, and how inhuman it was. I have not attempted to call upon emotions again."

"Do you remember what that was like?" asked Rory, "Being human?"

Nelson took a moment to answer, "Yes. I remember more now of my entire life span then when I was a human. I remember my entire childhood. It did not seem pleasant. Every day, the other kids would make fun of my smallness, and would attempt to hurt me, often with results. I had no friends in elementary through high school, not until I had discovered alcohol and drug's affects on my inhibitions and sociability. I became a high school drop out, started a band that never took off, and was an alcoholic and drug addict. I recall no pleasantness in this."

"So that's why you don't want to become human again?" asked Rory, "Because of your past?"

"Correct. But the Doctor says the only way he will eliminate the Cyberman ship is if I allow him to change me back into human. I have nothing left for me as a human. My singing career won't take off. I have no remaining friends or family. But if the alternative is Cybermen constantly coming down to this lake until they finally reach e and delete me, starting their invasion of this planet, I will choose life over death."

"You really aren't a big believer in the light at the end of the tunnel, are you?" asked Rory.

"There is no tunnel, Rory Williams. Both of my options involve suffering, but as a Cyberman, my primary objective if we are not attempting to assimilate your kind is to remain alive. I believe that once I am human again, there is a 96% chance I will regret this objective."

Rory was a nurse, he didn't want to watch people suffer, he wanted to help fix them. It was unlike him to say this, and the Doctor would probably allow it, so he thought, if it could help a (Cyber)man with no hope, what the hell?

"What if you traveled with us?" asked Rory. "We go throughout all of time and space. The Doctor and I haven't always seen eye to eye, especially on travel destinations, but he changes people. He makes people better. You could leave your broken life behind, how would that make you feel?"

Nelson took a moment to process this. "Nothing. My answer is yes. Calculations say that traveling through time and space would yield less emotional pain then remaining in this town."

Rory knows that he himself felt more pain traveling with the Doctor than when he lived in Leadworth, but if it could give a Cyberman a weird robotic hope as a result of estimated calculations from studies of how people's emotions react to certain lifestyles, then that was enough for Rory.

* * *

In the orbit of the Earth, however, the Doctor was in the TARDIS about to board the Cyberman ship. "Sonic, check. Magic win button, check. Bowtie, check. Rock and roll time, baby!"

The Doctor walked out the TARDIS doors. "HELLO? ANYONE HERE!"

He was in the middle of a corridor of Cybermen stasis pods. Immediately, Cybermen by the dozen began to leave their pods and approach the Doctor. "SECURITY BREACH!" they proclaimed, "INVESTIGATE IMMEDIATELY!"

"Hello there Cybermen, greetings from Gallifrey!" answered the Doctor, "You might not want to come any closer than you currently are!"

"SCANNING INTRUDER!" said the Cybermen. "INTRUDER IS NOT HUMAN. DELETE! DELETE!"

"Fine, but you might just make me press my magic win button!" replied the Doctor, holding a button in his hand.

"SCANNING TRIGGER" said the Cybermen. "THE TRIGGER TRIGGERS THE OPENING OF A CAGE. WHAT CAGE IS THIS?"

"You never need to find out!" replied the Doctor, "Just let me take some of your assimilation machine things, fly off to some other galaxy and I'll be on my way!"

"THIS IS A BLUFF! DELETE! DELETE!"

The Doctor pressed the button. Immediately a squeaking sound could be hear from the TARDIS. Soon enough, thousands upon thousands of Cybermats flooded out of the TARDIS and started to attack the Cybermen. The Doctor continued to run away from the Cybermen to another corridor, while they were distracted by the attacking Cybermats, beginning to fill the chamber.

The Doctor soon enough found an assimilation chamber. "Now, how to get all of this to the Tardis..." The Doctor thankfully always carries wheels that can attach to things in order to make them portable. After he managed to unhinge the machine from the wall, he was soon dragging it throughout the war-torn ship, Cybermen versus Cybermats, which is what they never expected. The Doctor could hear some of them beginning to upgrade, so he knew he had to start moving fast, but he had one last stop.

"THE MAIN CONTROL BRIDGE!" He shouted. "Now, let's see, lot's of buttons, most of them take the ship in a certain space direction. I don't even know how to fly my own ship, so how about let's just SONIC IT!" He took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the control panel, which made the ship turn 180 degrees around and begin to move, followed by him sending a frequency to break the control panel in order for no one to be able to change the course of the ship. "These Cybermen will not be returning to Earth for a while!"

He then made a mad dash back to his TARDIS. The Cybermats were starting to lose the fight, but thankfully, the Doctor made it to the TARDIS in time.

He was now able to turn Nelson back into a human. The only thing that could go wrong is if Nelson no longer wanted to be. The only way Nelson could turn back into a human is if he allowed it, which is why the Doctor lied to him. He had to make him think his choices were either humanity or death. And he couldn't let Nelson remain as a Cyberman. He needed to fix him. That's one thing he liked to think of himself as. The great fixer of the universe. And he knew he could fix Nelson, give him a better life than what he had before. All he had to do now was land.

* * *

An alert started to come from a computer Nelson had fixed up. "WARNING: LIFE SIGNS ON THE PREMISIS." A computer shouted. Nelson calmly walked to it. "One of the first things I did when I made the ship under the lake was add precautions," he said, "Safety measures to make sure no intruders came and the ship wouldn't flood. My security cameras seem to detect something approaching the lake." The screen began to show angry townsfolk with guns approaching the lake and descending inside. "That must be the ghost hunting party," explained Amy, "They think all of the Cyberman happenings are a ghost, they probably started the hunt without us. They won't find the ship though, it's covered up with dirt again, right?"

Nelson remained silent.

"You did re-cover the entrance to the ship, right, Nelson?" asked Amy.

"We are doomed," stated Nelson calmly. His face then began to change from one of blankness to one of pure terror. "Oh my god, we are dead men!" he said, now sounding less robotic and more human. "I can't die, I won't die, oh please don't let me die!"

"Calm down," consoled Amy, shocked at the fear emanating from the man who never uttered a word of emotion all day, "They have no idea how to get in here, if you would just calm down, everything will be okay-"

"Back off!" screamed Nelson, now pointing his Cyber-hand at the Ponds, "If you people had never come here, they would never have found me! I wanted you off this ship the moment you came! Just leave me alone, alright! I am not dying today!" He then sprinted out of the room, pointing his arm directly in front of him, aiming at whatever could possible come his way.

"Suppressed emotion must have popped out," stated a scared Rory, "Easiest to call upon is also the easiest to take over you."

Amy was more aware of what was about to happen. Before, Nelson had tried to feel something. Now, the feeling just took over him. And it wasn't going away.

"Doctor," Amy whispered, "Help us. Please."


	5. Chapter 5

The TARDIS materialized in the crashed Cyberman ship war room. "LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD, EVERYBODY!" he shouted gleefully after a his victory in the Cyberman ship above. Unfortunately, he only just realized he materialized fifteen minutes after he had sent the Cyberman ship off to the other side of the galaxy, and the room was now empty. "OK, fifteen minutes late, which means I've been gone for what, two hours? What could have happened in two hours that would cause the three of them to leave the safety of this room?" He looked at a note that was left on the table in Amy's handwriting. "Nelson had a major freak out, is heading toward the town, meet us there ASAP. -Amy"

The Doctor finally comprehended all that he was reading and immediately ran into the TARDIS. "I can fix him," the Doctor said allowed, "I told myself. His emotions weren't deleted, they were suppressed I told myself. Well guess what, he was right, I was right, they were suppressed, and only one has managed to make it out, and that is fear, and now you have to stop it from getting out of hand!"

The TARDIS re-materialized outside the town of Vide, Minnesota, one mile away from the lake. The Doctor walked out to see the town on fire. Citizens running through the streets, screaming. Buildings collapsing, power lines fallen, cars smashed, and bodies littered about. The Doctor was then relieved to see Amy and Rory running towards them, to which he greeted with a massive hug.

"Thank god you two are safe," he gasped with relief, "Where is Nelson?"

"Other side of town, trying to kill everyone," Amy shouted over all the noise, "He thought they were gonna find him and kill him and he sort of just flipped out and ran outside and started killing everyone! We've been trying to tell people to evacuate as fast as they can, but some of them aren't listening! They are gonna kill him!"

"And we can't have that," replied the Doctor, "I still have faith I can fix him, I do, I just have to get to him and get him to calm down. You two comfort the survivors, I'll go find Nelson."

And with those words the Doctor sprinted through the streets. He followed the path of fire and destruction for a while, trying to direct survivors along the way. "NELSON!" he was constantly shouting. _I need to find him_, the Doctor thought, _he will have to live with this, but I can still help him._

The Doctor ran into an intersection to see a man standing in the middle of the carnage alone. "Nelson?" the Doctor shouted, "Nelson, is that you?"

The Man turned around to reveal Nelson, with the Cyberman helmet completely removed. The part of his head previously covered by a helmet was mangled and bloody, with his eye missing there. "Is this is what they are all like out there?" Nelson shouted, crying, "So evil? Full of hate? wanting to destroy everything?"

"Nelson, you need to listen," the Doctor said cautiously, "You have removed your helmet fully, which means you now have full access to your emotions, but you haven't used them in so long they are all currently in flux, and you may be over sensitive and confused-"

"But I'm not," replied Nelson, "My head is more clear now than ever. At first, I lashed out at these innocent people in fear, and then I ripped off my own damn helmet in fear of myself, and then I realized what I was doing, and who I was doing it two. At first I was horrified, but then I remember what these people have done to me, and then I realized I finally could get back at them. Jonathan Hoffman, he nearly killed me as a kid, tricked me into going into the woods at night, said he wanted me to go camping with him. I was happy too, happy to finally have a friend who wanted to hang out with me. Instead, he and his friends leave me in the middle of the woods to nearly get killed by a bear. He never even said sorry. When I saw him running down the streets, I couldn't resist. And then killed everyone else I saw who had ever hurt me, and there were very few in this town who haven't. Were my emotions in flux, was I confused? Probably, but maybe when the brain is confused is when the heart reveals what is truly hidden inside."

"Nelson, once again, you need to listen-"

"NO!" shouted Nelson, "DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU SPACE PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO ME? I WAS GONNA GO TO HOLLYWOOD, MAYBE FINALLY HAVE A GOOD LIFE, A LIFE WHERE I AM NOT ALONE AND HATED, AND THEN ROBOTS FALL FROM THE SKY AND TAKE IT ALL AWAY! AND THEN YOU REPLACED THOSE DREAMS WITH AN IMAGE OF WHO I REALLY AM! A MONSTER, DOCTOR, A MONSTER!" He began to look a bit calmer. "I am no longer confused, Doctor," he continued, "I know who I am now. You people from the skies, you have shown me that I let those who hurt me change me, make me angry inside, and now they're all gone, and now I wish I could feel empty, like I did before, before you came here. If you would have just never found me, they never would have found me. And now, if I can't feel empty..." He began to raise his Cyber-hand to his head.

"NELSON, NO!" The Doctor shouted as he sprinted to him. He managed to make it just in time before Nelson could shoot himself.

"Nelson, this is not you right now," the Doctor consoled, "You feel like this is you, but this isn't, this is just your lowest point, and I have had my share of low points. I know where you are coming from, Nelson, I really do. I didn't have many friends as a child, but I had a lot of bullies. I hated them, I really did, down to my very core. But then I realized that hating them did nothing, it was just a poison to myself. Now you, you are not in control of yourself right now, your emotions are in flux and are releasing more anger than usual. You were never a hateful person, Nelson, never once. You are just a victim of this mess from the skies. If you can come with me, I can't guarantee you will ever forgive yourself for what you've done today, but I can make sure as hell that you will be better than you were before."

For a moment, Nelson's face was unsure of what he should do right there and then. He never got the chance to figure it out, as a gunshot rang out and Nelson collapsed, revealing Marty the bartender with a hand gun, who ran away as soon as he shot him.

"Nelson!" the Doctor shouted as he caught Nelson.

"Doctor, please," Nelson whispered, "I want to come with you, I want you to make me better, like you said. Please Doctor, please, I change my mind, I don't want to die, please... please..."

Nelson's face was frozen in fear, fear of death that moments before he would have welcomed openly. The Doctor gave him one last hope, and it was taken away. The Doctor just stared at Nelson, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Oh, no Nelson," he choked through the tears, "I was so sure, I thought I was doing what was best... I just wanted to save you, I promise! Please, just..." The Doctor couldn't finish. He just looked at Nelson, sorrowed at his death, upset at his own failure at doing what he should do best. He was already sitting there for several minutes when Rory and Amy ran up to find him holding Nelson's dead body.

"Doctor, is he...?" Amy asked.

The Doctor took a while to respond. At last, he finally just said:

"No."

Amy was slightly confused, as she could now see his dead body. "But, he looks-"

"I said," interupted the Doctor, "No. I refuse. He can't die, not like this." He then got up, determined, and ran back to his TARDIS.

"Doctor," Amy asked, "What are you doing?"

They all walked into the TARDIS. "Now Ponds, listen, when I leave this TARDIS, you must promise not to follow me, under no circumstances follow me, understood?"

"Well, yes but-"

"Good," the Doctor interrupted, "now go to your room. I have some business to take care of."

The Ponds went up to go to their room.

"Aren't you gonna follow him?" asked Rory as the Doctor started to pilot the TARDIS.

"I'm not sure," replied Amy, "I feel like I should, like he shouldn't be alone so he doesn't do something stupid, but at the same time, I feel like he needs to be alone."

The Doctor concentrated on piloting his TARDIS until it finally materialized in the intended destination.

"Not today," he said to himself, "I will not lose today."


End file.
